Body guard device for temporary mounting on furniture



Se t. 29, 1964 J. F. JAMIESON BODY GUARD DEVICE FOR TEMPORARY MOUNTING ON FURNITURE Filed March 18, 1963 flan 1.

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United States Patent 3,150,854 BODY GUARD DEVICE FOR TEMPORARY MOUNTING 0N FURNITURE .lay F. Jamleson, '2309 Lester Sh, Bakersfield, Calif. Filed Mar. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 265,754 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-3451) This invention relates to guard devices and more particularly to a simple inexpensive safety body guard readily mountable temporarily on exposed corners and the like surfaces of furniture to remove hazards to infants, children, elderly and other persons moving about such exposed objects.

It is a common experience for persons occupying dwelling places to suffer painful if not serious injuries by contact with protruding corners and other sharp edged surfaces of furnishings for the dwelling. For example the elderly or persons recovering from a debilitating illness not infrequently suffer more or less serious injury and bruises from accidental contact with sharp edges and corners of furniture. The same is likewise true of infants learning to walk or with respect to children while at play in the home.

Guard devices have been proposed heretofore for exposed areas of furniture but these are intended primarily to protect the furniture itself from blows received from other objects in the room and are designed to be permanently secured in place on the furniture. Mounting fastener devices or adhesives which penetrate the surface finish are of no concern because the protector remains a permanent fixture on the furniture and is removed only because damaged and in need of replacement by a new protector.

According to the present invention there is provided a simply constructed, inexpensive highly-versatile body guard formed of soft resilient material and contoured to conform with furniture surfaces presenting hazards to persons moving thereabout and having as its primary purpose protecting the human body from injury rather than the piece of furniture to which the guard is attached. Not only is the material of the body guard soft and supple but it is provided with simple means for attaching the device temporarily to any surface without risk of damage to the surface finish or need for fasteners or tools of any kind to install or remove the device.

Accordingly it is a primary object of the invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, one-piece, soft and resilient body guard adapted to be installed temporarily on exposed and dangerous areas of furniture to protect persons in the room against injury by contact therewith.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a body guard readily mountable over exposed corners and areas of furniture without need for tools or risk of defacing the furniture and readily removable therefrom when no longer needed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a body guard device attachable to areas of furniture temporarily to safeguard infants, small children and other persons against injury by contact with the area covered by the device.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specification and claim and upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawings to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing a typical embodiment of the invention in place on a corner of a table top;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 22 on FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 on FIGURE 1 and additionally showing protective strips applied to the adhesive coating prior to the installation of the body guard to furniture.

The body guard embodied in the present invention, designated generally 19, may be formed in many different contours and configurations. A typical configuration is illustrated in the drawing and is particularly suitable for application and mounting about the corner of a table top. In another form the guard has a U-configuration with the spacing between the parallel legs corresponding to the thickness of the table top or other exposed edge to be protected from contact by persons moving about the furniture.

As shown body guard 10 is molded from soft rubber or from one of the many soft, supple and resilient thermoplastic materials of which polyvinylchloride and the polyethylenes are particularly suitable examples. The vertical walls 11 and 12 are interconnected at their vertical junction by a bulbous readily-deformed protrusion 13 as well as by a web or horizontal wall portion 14. De sirably all edges of walls 11, 12 and 1d are tapered or feathered as indicated at 15 to merge smoothly with the surface of the furniture to which the article is applied. It body guard is molded of transparent material it blends imperceptibly with the surface finish and is hardly noticeable to the eye of the casual observer. Or if desired, the body guard can be molded from materials having a color matching the natural finish of the furniture.

Desirably, the height of walls 11 and 12 is somewhat greater than the thickness of the furniture. This has several advantages among which is the fact that the extension projects below the lower surface of the table top 20 and provides a resilient body containing surface particularly advantageous in the case of infants and small children likely to strike the under edge of the table top when attempting to rise or while at play beneath the table. Also the extra length accommodates furniture tops of widely varying thicknesses. If one Wishes to apply the guard to a thin table top it is a simple matter to trim away any objectionable portion of the lower edge protruding below the table top.

To facilitate mounting of the guard, the interior surfaces of walls 11, 12 and 14 are provided by known technique with a layer 17 of a suitable adhesive unlikely to be absorbed by or to damage usual furniture finishes. A pressure-sensitive adhesive meets these requirements admirably since it readily adhers to any smooth surface yet does not damage or dull the sheen of conventional furniture finishes, is strong and durable, and is readily removed after the need for the guard device ceases. Layer 17 is protected from drying and from damage until needed by a protective film of glasslne paper 18 completely covering the adhesive and preferably having a strip or pull tab portion projecting beyond one edge of layer 17 in the manner indicated in FIGURE 3.

To mount guard 10, the user selects one of the appropriate contour and size and merely grasps the projecting edge of glassing projector 18 and peels it from all surfaces of adhesive 17. The guard is then applied directly to the surfaces in need of the device as firm pressure is applied to all exterior surfaces of walls 11, 12 and 14 to form a strong bond between the adhesive and the furniture surfaces in contact therewith. Any objectionable surplus along the lower edges of walls 11 and 12 may be trimmed away. No other tools of any kind are required nor is any change made in the furniture.

After the need for guard device It ceases, and irrespective of whether this is a matter of days or months, the device is removed by lifting one edge portion of any wall and gradually peeling the several Walls from the furniture. Thereafter, any adhering pressure-sensitive material from layer 17 is removed as by rubbing with a cloth dampened with a suitable solvent for the adhesive but harmless to the furniture finish thereby restoring the natural lustre of the finish.

While the particular body guard device for temporary mounting on furniture herein shown and disclosed in de tail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

An article of manufacture comprising a one-piece guard device adapted to be easily attached about and removed from the sharp exposed edges of an article of furniture without need for tools and effective to prevent bodily contact of these protected sharp edges of furniture by and injury to infants, children and the infirm; said one-piece guard device being formed of soft resilient moldable material and including an elongated hollow bulbous portion open at its lower end and having an outwardly protruding cap-like closure at its upper end, said bulbous portion having a pair of flange-like walls integral with and projecting from the opposite sides thereof and lying in planes inclined to one another but parallel to the axis of said bulbous portion and adapted to lie flush against the vertically disposed edges of a table top corner or the like, a third flange-like wall of generally triangular shape integral with said cap-like closure and with the top edges of said pair of flange-like walls, said third wall lying in a plane generally normal to the axis of said bulbous portion and spaced substantially below the cap-like end thereof, an adhesive coating on the interior surfaces of said walls adapted to hold said guard device firmly but detachably anchored in place on furniture, and said bulbous portion and said pair of vertically disposed walls having a vertical height substantially greater than the thickness of the portion of the furniture for which said guard device is designed whereby the lower rim edges of the guard device project downwardly therebelow when in its installed position to safeguard against an infant injuring its head by contact with the furniture corner from the underside thereof, and said bulbous portion being disposed diagonally outwardly from the vertical corner edge of the table top in its installed position to provide a positive but harmless warning signal when contacted by the body of a person approaching dangerously close to the table top corner.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,100,002 Evans et al Nov. 23, 1937 2,995,863 Bright Aug. 15, 1961 3,041,775 Brown et al. July 3, 1962 

